Developing a Skills and Professionalism Curriculum – Process and Product

27 Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2011

See all articles by Gerald Hess

Gerald Hess

Gonzaga University - School of Law

Earl F. F. Martin

Gonzaga University - School of Law

Date Written: March 1, 2010

Abstract

Effective lawyers have an impressive array of legal knowledge, analytical thinking abilities, and professional skills, attributes, and values. Traditional legal education excels at helping students learn some of what effective lawyers need, including substantive law, analytical thinking, and legal research. Conversely, legal education has been less successful in teaching students the other skills, attributes, and values that effective legal professionals command. How can law schools revise their educational programs to more effectively prepare graduates for the practice of law? This article offers a model for responding to that challenge developed by Gonzaga University School of Law. The article summarizes the forces pushing curricular reform in legal education, describes the process Gonzaga employed to comprehensively review its required curriculum, and presents Gonzaga’s revised required curriculum as one response to the challenge to prepare students to enter the profession upon graduation. Gonzaga’s revised required curriculum features two skills and professionalism labs in the first year of law school, second-year legal research and writing courses focused on litigation and transactional drafting, and a third-year externship or clinical experience.

Keywords: curriculum, skills, professionalism, legal education

Suggested Citation

Hess, Gerald and Martin, Earl F. F., Developing a Skills and Professionalism Curriculum – Process and Product (March 1, 2010). University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 41, Winter 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1795606

Gerald Hess (Contact Author)

Gonzaga University - School of Law ( email )

721 N. Cincinnati Street
Spokane, WA 99220-3528
United States
509-313-3779 (Phone)

Earl F. F. Martin

Gonzaga University - School of Law ( email )

721 N. Cincinnati Street
Spokane, WA 99220-3528
United States

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